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Volume II
Issue 9 January 2000
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Memo from the World: The Colors of Freedom by Michael Nicolella It was a damp cold afternoon on Staten Island with a wind blowing in off of the water. The Kill Van Kull was barely hidden from view behind some houses on the next block. Several adolescents were walking into West New Brighton Branch Library on Staten Island, its bricks dark and wet in the shadowless light of an overcast winter day. Several more moved about inside, walking in front of the bright windows in groups of two and three. Introductions were made in a white basement room where rows of chairs were set up and people of all descriptions were talking. Several young men with video cameras chatted in a corner. Adults stood near a long table that was abundant with cakes and home made cookies, while about a dozen young high school students conferred in the hallway about what they would say. The Colors of Freedom: Immigrant Stories is the result of a project by Janet Bode, an author of non-fiction about teenagers. During the 1990's, she met with middle-school students from across the country, asking them "Please write about your roots," as she says in the 144-page book that resulted. The stories in the book are told by students in immigrant families as well as by those whose ancestors emigrated to the United States long ago. In 1997, seventh-grade Journalism students in Staten Island's Morris Middle School worked with teacher Erminia Claudio and Janet Bode to answer the question that now frames the book, from its Introduction to its INS Citizenship survey and its Teachers Guide at the end: "How can I capture and portray a whole culture through a lone individual?" The answer to this question is difficult to come by, of course, as Ms. Bode notes right away, since lifestyles are so different in different regions of each state, let alone in the country, and even the roles of male and female can differ greatly. It is not a question that is specific to the United States melting pot, since it seems to be a preoccupation of even the most static and homogenous societies. As the event began, the audience and the participants were thanked for coming, and Carolyn Bode was introduced. Carolyn, the author's sister, read a letter from Janet describing how much she had enjoyed this project. (Janet Bode, who usually attended such events, was kept away by illness.) The audience saw transparencies and snapshots of students with whom Ms. Bode had worked. Characteristic of her experiences are three schools: Teacher Academy in Edinburg, Texas near the Mexican border; Vashon Island High School, off the coast of Seattle, Washington, where students and teachers complained about a lack of diversity or recent immigants; and Morris Middle School. The book contains writing from other school districts and Indian Reservations in the U.S. as well, including an interview with a thirteen-year-old Menominee girl and a Menominee culture teacher and former Tribal Chairman. This day at the Library the students of Ms. Claudio's seventh-grade journalism class had reassembled to read aloud portions of their writing and to talk about the experience with an audience of some friends and many parents, teachers, and neighbors. Since this event was taking place two years after the project, the students had all done some growing up, and had split up to go to different schools all over New York City: "magnet" schools for the arts and sciences, Staten Island high schools, and vocational institutes. Ms. Claudio, the Staten Island teacher who worked with Janet Bode, talked about her experiences teaching this class. Sitting above the black linoleum, smelling floor wax as a small American flag hung in the corner behind Ms. Claudio, it was easy to think of PTA meetings about refreshment budgets and disputes over student government elections. What was already remarkable about Colors of Freedom though was the interest that parents were taking in the work of the entire class, and in talking to the teacher. Neighbors had wandered downstairs as well, and friends and siblings of the students who came to watch were interested in what was being said and done. The students at this event told stories about exploring family history, answered questions about where they currently were and what they were studying, described the work process of the project, and talked about personal experiences from then and now. Once they began talking they were admirably confident in looking back over what they wrote two years earlier. Many of the thoughts and stories being shared were about progress, heritage, generation gaps, and about being separated from loved ones. There was much proud applause from the audience. It is generally taken for granted that adults have a special relationship with children. This relationship is depicted in advertising and entertainment, made obvious in suburban neighborhoods, and is the subject of many disputes regarding our nation's schools. Here at the library, parents who took the microphone in the discussion period were engaging with their comments. One mother - with her son, a recent immigrant - stressed that students and adults must respect each other, and spoke of this project as a powerful tool for learning and opportunity. Janet Bode died at home on December 30, 1999. Her obituary may be found here: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-12/31/061l-12319 9-idx.html The Colors of Freedom (Copyright 1999 by Janet Bode) is published
by Franklin Watts - an imprint of Grolier Publishing http://publishing.grolier.com
- and is available from the publisher at http://publishing.grolier.com/servlet/com.grolier.servlets.BookDetails?isbn=0-53
1-11530-5&catid=102 |
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